Tardy Background Check Leads To Firing of HuffPo Exec

Recently hired Huffington Post Senior Vice President of Sales Moritz Loew was let go after only three months on the job, thanks to a background check that turned up a 9-year-old DWI arrest. Loew had an outstanding warrant in Seattle from 2003 for failure to appear in court for the charges.

“My biggest regret is having even touched a set of car keys after drinking beer,” Loew wrote in an email message to friends and colleagues. “If this is the worst thing that happens to me due that mistake, I will consider myself extremely fortunate” I have since cleared everything up with my friends at the King County Court House and hoping to move on in a positive fashion.”

After his dismissal, HuffPo owner AOL said only that Loew did not meet their hiring standards.

It may seem strange that the results of the background check came about months after Loew was hired. Why waste time and resources bringing an employee on board if he hasn't been fully vetted yet? In fact, the practice of delayed background checks isn't all that unusual, according to Joshua A. Hawks-Ladds, a labor and employment attorney in Connecticut.

“There's a whole host of reasons why these things happen,” Hawks-Ladds explains. “Some employers don't bother to wait for the background check to come back before making a hire. Some don't bother to do a background check until the hire already takes place. Some don't check them, some don't follow up. Sometimes they get suspicious after the hire.”